History of Gahnilim
The Age of Discovery None have been encountered that can say for certain where the first inkings of Gahnilim civilization, or indeed any civilization began. Scholars believe that tribes may have formed the way forests form; individuals gathering in one place to form a whole. Through trial and error, these people learned what would allow them to survive, and what wouldn't. They learned what plants to eat, and which animals provided the best meat and fur. They learned how to find new resources, and how to better use the ones they already had. They learned how to build more secure shelters. They discovered how work as a team within their own groups, as well as with other groups. They learned how to reconcile differences. They also discovered how to defend themselves; both from the monsters that roamed the land, and from any tribe that couldn't be negotiated with. The Ageless Scholars At some point, they encountered three strange individuals: two men, and a woman. Their names were Vallen, Alrisha, and Shalm. They had a strange radiance about them, and spoke in very calming voices. They ventured from tribe to tribe, curious about what the people had learned. : Vallen took interest in the general knowledge the people had acquired, as well as their laws, rules, and customs. : Alrisha was most interested by how people looked after each other; how they healed emotionally, physically, and socially. : Shalm's fascination lay in how the people would react to danger, how they would rise to the occasion, how they would fight. Fight for survival and against injustice. How they would celebrate victories. The three travelled around the area that would become Gahnilim, the mountain region contested by the dwarves and the giants, as well as the Plains of Syrrg, spending anywhere from a month to a year at each settlement they visited, honing their skills and gathering information about the lives of those they met. This pilgrimage took many decades, and when they returned to the first tribe they had encountered, they remarked that the three did not appear to have aged a single day. Because of this, the three earned the name The Ageless Scholars. The City of Knowledge and Respite For centuries, the Ageless Scholars made decades-long pilgrimages; each time finding more and more fascinating information. However, each time they returned, they were swarmed with questions. Questions they were more than than happy to answer, but they were often overwhelmed. They were the custodians of knowledge in Gahnilim; the sole custodians. In the Ajek woods, they decided to found a city, where they would record and store all the information they had collected, as well as any knowledge that was brought to them. This city was named Gahnawij: The City of Knowledge, and would serve as Gahnilim's capital for many generations; uniting the country in knowledge. The three Undying Scholars spent ten years writing, verifying and compiling the knowledge they had gathered in a vast building known as The Master Library. After this long process, the three Undying Scholars retreated to their chambers, and sealed them from the inside. Many generations would pass before they would emerge. The Battle of Black Gate In the Uglan Mountains in western Gahnilim, the barrier between Bara and the daemonic realm of Tuku is at its thinnest. Mortals who listened to the daemons' honeyed whispers found a way to open a portal connecting the two realms. Through this portal, dubbed the Black Gate, daemons began to emerge, lead by the terrible Archdaemon: Tulros, seeking to claim Bara for themselves. Syrrg's Disciples of The Monolith were the first to notice the daemons, and so sent envoys to Stonefront and Gahnilim, warning them of the incoming danger. They noticed that the daemon scouts were intimidated by the Monolith, and deduced that they would go after Gahnilim first. Stonefront was the first to answer the call, bringing with them their (for the time) advanced weaponry and armour, worn by their mightiest warriors, the Coretouched. The daemons' invasion was as swift as it was brutal. Village after village was razed, the daemons not caring about looting.Mere hours after the Disciples' warning reached Gahnawij, the daemon horde was at their gates. The Coretouched and the Disciples knew they would be unable to assist in protecting Gahnawij directly, and instead opted to assault the Black Gate in an attempt to cut off the daemons' reinforcements. The three Undying Scholars were at last awakened. During their long slumber, they had transformed, and taken on angelic appearances, and so were dubbed The Three Angels. They would add Divine Generals to their list of titles as they joined their people in the battle to defend Gahnawij. They, in turn, would be joined by their highest-ranking librarian, a sage known as Indar. Daemons are not known for their tactical prowess, and did not surround the city. This allowed noncombatants to flee with pieces of The Master Library. Despite the torrent of evil that flowed from it, the Black Gate was surprisingly under-defended. While the Coretouched distracted the horde, the Disciples used a piece of the monolith in a ritual to seal the portal. In the ensuing battle, Gahnawij was razed. Yet as their homes were destroyed around them, the men did not lose hope, and continued to fight. Not even the presence of the Archdaemon itself could shake their resolve. The battle was long, and it was bloody, but eventually the killing blow was dealt to Tulros. The Divine Generals and Indar set about ensuring that the arch-daemon could never again re-form. To do this, Vallen, Alrisha and Shalm absorbed its physical essence, while in addition to this, Indar also absorbed its knowledge and understanding of all things profane. After this, Indar disappeared. It can be inferred that he disappeared into what are now known as the Xortdan Mountains, as that is where he would later re-appear. Using the arch-daemon's essence, Vallen, Alrisha and Shalm were able to ascend to godhood. Their final acts as part-mortal consisted of, constructing the White Temple around the Black Gate, and founding the Paladins' Guild in Tsij, as that was where most of the surviving books had wound up, and bestowed their blessing upon its members. The Rise of Indariel Little is known about what Indar did during his long absence. The most widely accepted theory is that Indar gained a profound insight into the powers of life, death, and the divine from the god Quaruniel, when he collaborated with him on the creation of the vampire race. Finally, it is also assumed that his ascension to demi-godhood took place during this time. The First Vampiric War In what are now the Xortdan Mountains, Indariel's new race began to search for sustenance. They would slip into villages to drain sustenance from villagers, retreating to remote strongholds in the high peaks or hidden caverns of the mountains. Many of these fortresses can still be seen today. Soon, the Paladins' Guild took action, and sought and destroyed vampires. To keep their numbers up, the vampires began to fully drain their victims, and then transform them into vampires to bolster their numbers. Indariel lead his race of vampires on an invasion of Gahnilim, using the original Dusk Stones to protect his armies from the sun, and divert holy energy. Fortunately, before his disappearance, Quaruniel had recorded everything Indar had shared with him, and stored the information in his temple. This information was used to create the techniques commonly used against vampires to this day. The information was also used to create the two original Pillars of Dawn, the holy artifacts that were used to protect Tsij and Chajek. Finally, the information was used to create the Halberd that was used to cripple Indariel. The Halberd trapped Indariel's life force and prevented him from regenerating, but could not absorb enough of it to truly kill him. The Halberd was sealed in Quaruniel's Temple, which was renamed the Temple of Vyrekull. The Silverdust Treaty After the apparent defeat of Indariel, Gahnilim signed a peace treaty with the vampires in the eastern mountains. The terms included the banning of Indariel worship, as well as the destruction of any monuments and shrines to him. Any recorded information bestowed by Indariel was seized, and either destroyed or kept in the Guild's archives. For many years, Gahnilim and the vampires enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous relationship. Many vampiric enclaves were formed, mainly in Chos, but occasionally in Tsal. During this time of peace, Chos' economy particularly flourished. The paladins of Tsal, however, did not trust the vampires. Chos' Secession Tsal's hatred and distrust of the vampires was well-known, and, fearing a potential vampire invasion, they began to impose heavy taxes on the vampires, as well as fortify the Paladins' Guild's forces. While Chos feared that Tsal would violate the peace treaty and drag them into a civil war, they also feared that secession would allow Tsal, no longer bound by the treaty, to freely attack their economic allies. Chos knew that it lacked the military resources to protect their vampire allies. Tsal was backed by dwarven mercenaries hailing from Slatekeep, including members of the now-legendary Bronzestorm Clan. Chos was not inclined to request aid from their potential allies: the orks of Gafa. During the negotiation of the separation, the following terms were reached. #Chajek's Pillar of Dawn would be removed and stored in Tsal. #Tsal would remove all of its troops from Chos #50% of the tax money collected from the vampires would be returned to the people of Chos. #Tsal and Chos would not engage one another. The Dawn Crusade and Monolith Envy Category:Gahnilim Category:History